No one knows 'cept Lorelei
by GloomyMoodsAndInspiration
Summary: As a new school year starts also new teachers arrive at Cleo's, Emma's and Rikki's school. They seem to know more about the three girls than usual.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don´t own it. The story is set between series two and three. There will be some self made characters and maybe I´ll slip a bit too much in the OC universe. Sorry if this might happen! **

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_Prologue_**  
**

When I arrived at the airport, Heathrow to be precise, the heavy rain fell like a massive curtain making everything grey and uniform. The sky was filled with a sick layer of clouds, promising nothing but the expectation of more cold, wet and thick drops falling downwards for the next hours.

I climbed out the car, opened my umbrella- a navy blue- and pulled the obligatory dull black cagoule closer around me. The rain hammered against the soft fabric jumping back and finally hitting the grey bituminised floor. Then I hauled my luggage out of the boot and went for my terminal.

Even the glasses of the huge hall seemed to have become a bit dirty and blurred by the rain.

Shortly before I entered the huge building I hesitated. Who knows when there was the next chance to feel rain again on my skin? Tickling down my neck and making me wish to have bought a better rain coat instead? I stretched out my arm, caught some of the cold water drops and put my hand back into the warm pocket of the coat. A gesture like I could capture that bit of rain.

Australia was going to be hot and dry, for most of the time. Maybe I´d be lucky and the sky would open up a bit and let it rain. Just like it permanently did here. One year filled with sun and aridity. Yet my stay there would make it worth being on the other end of the world. I wasn't going to Australia in vain.

Hanna had chosen me. She wanted me to do it. Despite the debacle in the United States three months ago. Even if I didn't show it openly I was thankful for this operation.

Australia was far enough to forget everything troubling my mind here. Far enough away to think about different issues. Plus I would have to bally concentrate myself. The smallest piece of distraction, the inattention of a mere second, might have unimaginable consequences. Maybe for me too, although this was the point I couldn't care less about. In case I wouldn't work correctly people could die; the only thing which I couldn't, wouldn't and certainly won´t let happen.

It wouldn't be quite a hazard-free year down there. Our systems had a breakdown lately and the most recent device we possessed was probably a camera build in the year 2000.

I walked through the glass door and the used to always too stuffy air greeted me. In a conversant movement I lowered my umbrella, shook the raindrops away and did a step out of the puddle which had formed under my feet.

The woman behind the counter smiled widely at me. ´Your passport please.´


	2. Chapter 2

At lunch break the cafeteria was as overfilled as usual. The seniors who had left the year before were replaced by undergraduates. And the new students did everything in their power to get themselves noticed by everyone and everything.

´One more shout and I´ll burn their foot.´ Rikki warned her two best friends in a whisper glaring at a group of students misusing their fork as catapults for slices of a tomato.

´Give them a chance. We have been as loud as they are now, I assume.´ Emma tried to calm her.

´We´ve been worse.´ smiled Cleo.

´Hey, have you already seen the new ones?´ Lewis popped in the conversation, resting his tray next to Cleo´s and giving them all an expectant glance.

´Who are you talking about?´ Emma asked and watched her salad with a critical eye. ´Do you think this is eatable?´

´Not that I know.´ Rikki answered.

Emma´s question whether Rikki meant the salad or the new ones was ignored.

´Which new?´ Cleo demanded to know. Maybe a bit too curiously, because Rikki and Emma shot each other a conspired smile.

´What?´ Cleo lifted her fork and eyed her friends disapproved.

´Teacher.´ Lewis explained, partly to get the attention away from Cleo who clearly felt embarrassed under Emma´s and Rikki´s stare.

´So what?´ As Rikki was not interested anymore she took her dismay out on Lewis.

He didn't get a chance to tell more. The intern school radio beeped three times and the bit too husky voice of the secretary sounded through the lunch room. ´Good morning. An important announcement: All students and teacher assemble in the auditorium in ten minutes. I repeat: All students and teachers assemble in the auditorium in ten minutes.´ There was a short pause and a next sentence already filled the air. ´Let the stress begin.´

Exactly ten minutes later the four of them fell exhausted in their seats.

´If they have no reason…´ Emma menaced folding her arms in front of her chest.

´Still is better than regular lessons.´ Rikki told her flickering a strand of her hair behind her shoulder.

The principal stood behind the podium. He was a man with light grey hairs and a most accurate style and certainly spending his lone weekends in golf clubs. He arranged the mike. From one second to another everyone fell silent.

´I´m glad you all came.´ he started his talk.

´Where else should we be?´ asked Rikki being annoyed.

´Rikki.´ Cleo hissed at her.

´Our high school has the honor to greet two new teachers taking over the position as head tutors for our eleventh graders. Mr. Chris Brown is going to take over the field of Biology and Ms. Lorelei Dorset the field of English and Literature of thus and lower grades. Both applied in an exchange program we do with schools in London and so will only teach a year.´

Both newly arrived teachers stepped forward.

Lewis eyed both exactly; they were pretty young for his imagination of teacher-in their late twenties maybe-for which he probably could blame his imagination of a teacher. The man had slightly waved dark brown hair and wore an also dark blue polo shirt underneath what Lewis could classify as a suit. When he was about one eighty in size it would be the first correct estimation he´d ever done. He seemed trained and relaxed, yet a bit pale.

Maybe the trademark of the English, because the woman didn't seem to be any more tanned. She wore her hair bound upwards held by a great barrette and a silver dress reaching down to her ankles. It occurred to him as if both would give each other nothing more but a cold stare and yet somehow communicate with one another. As he watched again to prove this theory both smiled at the students and gave the principal an acknowledging nod.

Eventually the principal brought his speech to an end quite fast. However, nearly a whole hour had passed when he finally send the students back into their regular classes. But for the principal it was a short speech. He was proud of himself. When it came to talking he could never hold himself back. Words just sounded too beautiful to remain unspoken.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the door was closed behind us and we were alone I started my questioning. ´What the hell are you doing here? ´

Chris lifted his hands in defeat probably remembering the last time I yelled at him. ´Support you.´

´I don't need no support.´ I mentally cursed him. I knew that I was unfair to a high degree. But I needed this. Alone. I wanted to find myself again. Or find at all, to be honest.

´The same as you didn´t need back at Lake Ontario where your cover was nearly blown? ´ He asked heavy sarcasm in his voice.

Why did he begin with exactly this? It was the one single weak spot in my career. Not even this. It has been a stupid, bloody misunderstanding. Bloody in both senses of the word.

´We are no average s-people, don´t miss this, Lorelei.´ he added in a warning tone.

´Oh yes, announce it through the mike. Blow up both of us right away. I´ll bet they are going to trust us even more.´ glaring at him I played with the small piece of plastic in front of his eyes. Well, it was only my listening device but it wouldn't fail the obvious meaning of my words. ´Maybe they even are going to skip the publicity, if plead them nicely.´

´Why are you that sassy? ´ He asked.

_Stop analyzing me_, I thought but remained silent, because I knew that he would counter with his I-can´t-stop-it´s-part-of-my-personality-you-know-that-theory. And this would be exactly the same I´d tell him when our argument would've been the other way round.

´Because I want to do it alone and I can do it alone. I won´t send you back but I´d appreciate you leaving me alone doing things my way and not how you believe they would be better for me. It can´t be that difficult for you-´ the door opened. ´to find an agreement in this case, Mr. Brown´ I continued without hesitation, in a calmer voice though. My more than clear sign for him to leave at once.

´It´s all left up to you.´ (what meant as much as: Don't do anything until you´ve asked me.) He disclosed loyally and disappeared through the door.

´We´ll talk later.´ I called after him, not in the friendliest tone.

He turned around and waved at me cheerfully. Idiot.

A girl with black hair and tanned complexion walked past me. She´d done her hair into two plaited pigtails and wore a purple blouse. I grimaced inside myself. Her style didn't quite fit my kind of repertoire.

She looked at the floor as she noticed that I watched her as well.

´I left my pen.´ she explained hastily and went to her desk. That was interesting, as soon as people noticed that they were watched they would try to explain their behavior.

I nodded and started preparing the board. The date was significant.

´Which date is today? ´ I asked, even if I knew the answer by myself. Deep inside we all knew when the time was ripe again. Or maybe I was, just again, an exception.

´The twelfth.´

Letting the chalk sink I slowly turned half around, now facing the window with the sun sending its bright lights inside the room. Now I understood, at least partly, why Chris followed me to Australia and was convinced to support me. However he should´ve asked me before. Ontario really had been a bad slip. A silly misunderstanding I was too proud to admit to him how the background story actually had been. I didn't quite know it by myself to be precise.

´Tonight´s full moon again, isn't it?´ I asked a little bit lost in my thoughts. I always imagined the moon to be a giant clock with white dial and digits as dark as the night. Slowly filling up to its full size and then beginning to shrink again as the digits slowly tick-tacked on, when the clock was round it would begin to fill itself again with sometimes blue, yellow or white colour.

´Yeah.´ she seemed to be shocked about something. It could only be something in relation to the moon cycle because at the mention of the date she hadn't reacted outwardly. Or she had an extremely slow mind.

At least I wasn´t an exception in that case. When normal people knew, why should I make myself feeling guilty having this knowledge too?


	4. Chapter 4

´That biology teacher is easy go.´ Lewis called and headed towards the group of Emma, Cleo and Rikki.

´No one asked for your opinion.´ Rikki replied as soon as he was close enough to hear.

´You´re a bit irritated today.´ Emma stated the obvious.

´It´s the full moon.´ Cleo put away her pen. ´That Ms Dorset is crazy. She asked me whether tonight´s full moon or not.´

´There are non-merm- normal humans in this world too, who are interested in the cycle of moon.´ Emma said correcting herself in the mid- sentence. ´Maybe she believes in the cycles of moon and that what daily horoscopes promise.´

´Teachers aren´t normal, Emma.´ Rikki scolded.

´All right, all right.´ defeated Emma smiled at her. ´Tomorrow you´re normal again.´

´That would be a pro for the moon calendar.´ added Lewis.

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**A/N: Okay, this chapter is reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally short. Sorry for that!**


	5. Chapter 5

Of course everyone who is new is highly qualified to be distrusted as soon as possible or to become the centre of local gossip. There isn't differentiated between student and teacher. The secretary- I was aware that I should be able to recall her name in some time without thinking –was the first brave one talking to me. At least she started an half-hearted attempt.

´So, both of you come from London? ´

I nodded towards her as I gathered the sheets together to one heap. There was nothing in the files which could have helped me. One girl had given up a career as swimmer without explanation, maybe I´d do research on her later that evening.

´Yes, we do.´

´Do, do you know each other well?´ she asked her next question, probably one of a long mental list. Yet she´d snapped the trap with this one. She didn't want to know anything about me. Well, she wanted some information, so I gave her _some_ to think about.

´Honestly, just at the last moment. You know the procedure. Everyone has seen everyone somewhere and then someone knows someone who again knows somebody, who again knows someone, who knows someone else by chance…and in the end no one actually knows who is meant.´ I sighed deeply and made a typical ´you must know that annoying process´ gesture with my hand.

A bit dazzled she echoed my smile. ´I see.´ Of course. ´I just thought, ´cause you both came from London that…er…you know.´ she flushed slightly and tried to make something clear to me with her gesture. Just that hers really was indefinable.

I laughed softly. ´We´re not that close. Doc Brown originally is from Stirling, north of Glasgow, so Scotland. And I was born in Carlisle. It's a town quite in the north of England, but still England.´

´Doctor?´ she inquired interested my given hint.

I lifted my shoulders, grabbed the files, rose to my feet and gave her a calculating look. ´Biology.´ I said and went outside. As if Chris really was interested in biology. It´s always been psychology.

By time the day slipped past me and as the sun began to fall I was glad the day had passed without problems. There was one of many basic rules: When everyone accepts you at instance they are going to take longer to become suspicious.

Slowly I woke up my computer, waited until the programs where loaded and started typing.

From:_ldorset ... _

_To: __msishq ... _

Subject:_ Arrival and first day_

_A wonderful evening to all of you_

_Today nothing had happened. Everything remained silent. I would bet that I´d miss the constant rain, even it always is a new challenge. At least I don't want to grow rusty._

_Thank you a lot for warning me not to be alone. Mr. Brown already threatened me with the promise to take care of me. Shall I tell him that it had been his fault that I nearly died in Lake Ontario? Well, he saved me in __countermanoeuvre__. At least that is his point of view on the whole story. Still I´d appreciate it if you would delete this incident out of my files. _

_Tonight I´m going to get familiar with the city map. Doing something outside is pointless. I haven't found my protégé(e)s yet. Somehow I believe to have met one already and found another in the files. Less I have heard from the other side. The danger, as you call it, keeps itself hidden. Everything we can do is hope that it won´t change in the next few days._

_It is difficult to go against organizations as we are as they use our tricks. Although it should set them limitations in their actions. The same we are with no real legend and equipment._

_Have I mentioned that I hate our email addresses? Everyone with a little bit of fantasy paired with luck and a bit of a brain is able to decode them. Yet this only could do one of us :)_

_The postcard I promised you has to wait until I get a decent picture of Great Barrier Reef. So it might take a while, don´t count on it too soon. Maybe during the holidays as a snap shot while we search the whole country._

_Send very best wishes to everyone_

_ld_

_I´m going to do some testing. Are you sure that there is no one?_

I hit the send key.

In the very next moment someone knocked at the wooden frame of my entrance door.

´Come in!´ I called without looking who it might be.

´You should be more careful about whom you let in.´ I heard Chris´ voice.

´You´re right.´ I turned around. ´Any objections if I kick you out again?´ my voice was huffed.

´You told me those moods are nothing more than a myth.´

´So are we.´ I countered and sighed. ´I´m sorry.´

´Actually I should be used to it when it comes from you.´

´And non-actually?´ I asked.

´We shouldn't be here.´

´Right again.´ I thought about something. ´How about a horror movie?´ I asked slowly.

´My ambition isn't quite as high as yours.´

´Your problem. It´s my flat, what a pity for you. In four weeks you may decide.´ I stood up and walked to the cupboard as another thought crossed my mind. ´Have you had dinner?´

´Sadly not, I was kept away from it.´

´The secretary already fancies you a lot. Maybe you´ll find someone?´ I laughed.

´Again, my intention is not in this direction.´ Chris laughed too.

´Ah, you remembered me of something. Let´s watch today´s tapes. I had a quite interesting talk to her. Lisa´s her name, isn´t it?´ I asked. Then he would know what I´ve told her about him.

´Wherefrom should I know?´ he requested.

´You have been with her the past hours, not me.´ was my reply.

´Jealous?´ he asked, being utterly serious from the one second to the next.

I waited before I even thought of answering, instead glancing at the few DVD lines - I´d ordered them in their colour from the lightest to the darkest - in front of me. For a long while I watched him from the corner of my eye. Then I shook my head, but said nothing.

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**A/N: Thank you Lynelle147 for your kind review!**


	6. Chapter 6

´Uh, it's co-o-o-old today. ` Kim cuddled in her seat trying to sit without shaking and wrapped her jacket closer around her.

Cleo gave her a short glance and ate without any comment her cereals. All the three of them, Emma, Rikki, and her, had survived the full moon without any dangers. At least she knew that she had and could only guess about her two friends.

More or less through the help Lewis' had offered. He called all of them every fifteen minutes to control whether they had control over their own minds.

So of course he on his part had to survive Rikki's sarcasm and her frequently annoyed comments according his calls.

Cleo jumped out of her chair as the door bell rang. She headed for the door and opened it boldly. Seeing Emma and Rikki a wide smile spread over her face. ´Ey, you two! Finally you came. I nearly was dying out of boredom.´ She lowered her voice. `And Kim...still has an eye on me.´

´Maybe we will soon, depends on our new tutors.´ Rikki smirked. At least she wasn't as moody as the day before.


	7. Chapter 7

Trying to figure out who I was to look after, I tortured the light orange sponge by squeezing it onto the blackboard rubbing away the white chalk. Leaving dark blue tracks each time I did. Some slightly white coloured water drops ran their way down the blackboard, collected to greater drops and finally fell down to the floor. After glaring at them until they stopped dropping I turned around and set down. On my desk in the class room rested a calculator. Attentive people might notice that in English lessons such a mathematic machine wasn't necessary and would ask oneself why I'd use it. Yet most people weren't attentive enough to notice the calculator at all. So I let it rest on the wooden desk. At least as long as it beeped. Not normal for a calculator too, isn't it?

I opened the calculator and scrolled down the messages (hitting the + button several times) appearing on the slim screen until I found Hanna's latest.

From_: msishq ..._

To: _ldorset .., cbrown ..._

Subject: _Pictures_

_Good morning__,_

_I am very sorry about this. Of course I should have given you the photographs way before you left- plus the names at all. Our system crash down somehow must have affected my memory in a bad way. Your protégées are Cleo Sertori, Emma Gilbert, Rikki Chadwick and their friends and families, of course. You also have to keep an eye on Lewis McCartney; he is a lot with the girls. Minor: Zane Bennett, Ash Dove and Charlotte if she dares to do anything out of ordinary again. The girls were able to hold Charlotte back on their own, yet they are going to be powerless against higher powers. _

_Forgive me that play on words._

_You have to go after a certain Dr. Sven Green. His ID is an obvious fake. Sadly we could not find out who he really is, or what exactly he plans. He seems to search for a kind of weapon. Something with which its help he might control all of us. Though, it is strange that we do not even have a real profile picture of him. Just this faked ID. Kind of canny that he got through the borders with it. This picture is the main example for a faked ID in every lecture book. A seven year old with a pair of scissors and glue could have done better. _

_I do not like our email addresses a lot too, you have mentioned it at least a hundredths of times. And I am sorry, Lorelei, I have not found anyone yet. And you know that you would be the first I would tell._

_Chris, you have been warned. You knew she would not like you to go down to Australia too. Sadly we had no progress and even every routine job including a bit of technological equipment nearly is impossible for us. I hate us being determined by what technology requires, though we can not change it. We are going to stick at the greater and smaller boat and ship accidents all around the world. Save some lives so far.  
_

_hq_

_Attachment: 4_

I flipped through the pictures and noticed the girl from yesterday. Then I recalled the case file ´C1´. We had noticed the happenings around Charlotte too late because there still wasn't enough, say, no contact between Australia and Great Britain. If the situation had escalated Hanna probably would have send someone like Kevin. Someone, who works totally in the background. He wouldn't have needed an ID card, neither a faked nor his own. According to the files the three girls had managed it alone.

Pleased I closed my calculator again. Sticking back a strand of my hair I set the small device in my ear on.

´You're awake, Chrissy? ´ I nearly whispered.

´I read Hanna's mail. I've met the boy yesterday.´ he informed me.

´I met Cleo and found Emma in the files. So I could count back to the month they probably changed. I' m going to have them in class in a few minutes. Of course I am doing my kind of HUMINT. Don't try to change my mind.´

`I never could change your mind. Be careful, the other shouldn't notice a bit.´ he told me.

`Are you Serious? I didn't know.´

`See you later.´ Said Chris.

`Have fun, Doc Brown.´

In the next moments the first students already arrived. As everyone was present, my four included, I shortly introduced myself. ´It's your turn now. Everyone please tell one or two words about oneself, still I have to remember your names freely.´ An unnecessary exercise, I already knew the names of all classes I would teach this year.

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**A/N: Second review, yay (= Thank you Lilypel !  
**


	8. Chapter 8

´You´re right, she is crazy. Have you noticed the way she watched me? ´ Rikki asked quietly as soon as the lesson was over, still being in the classroom. She collected her things and carelessly threw them in her bag.

`Not different as everyone else in this room.´ Emma carefully folded her file and placed it between heaps of books.

´Maybe Rikki is right.´ Cleo whispered, glancing shortly at her teacher. ´She asked me about the moon cycle, remember it.´ she wanted to add some more but her hand suddenly felt moistened.

`Uh.´ she called and jumped in shock. ´That's water! Why is that water?´ Frantically Cleo searched for a towel or something with a similar function. She tried her T-Shirt but it didn't seem to work. Mentally she counted the seconds backwards until she would be exposed to the whole class.

Few student already had left and the others hesitated curiously to see Cleo freak out for the apparent first time in her life.

_Ten._

It was like black magic, a dreadful nighmare. As often as she tried as often the tiny drop reappeared. Or it didn't vanish at all. Cleo wasn't quite sure about the difference between this, she only noticed that it didn't work at all.

_Nine._

Rikki held a hand above Cleo's arm sending warmth to dry the drop off.

´I am unable to do anything.´ she murmured as Cleo had to pull away because of the heat Rikki caused and the small drop still remained on her hand as if Rikki was powerless.

_Eight._

_Seven._

`Do something. Anything! ´ She hissed hectically and hysterically the same. Lewis eyes flickered through the room and noticed a towel hanging in front of the class room, next to the white ceramic sink.

_Six._

He began running towards the sink avoiding the school bags of the other students.

_Five._

_Four._

`Lewis. Hurry.´ Emma called.

_Three._

Cleo was certain now that they wouldn't be able to stop the effect water had on her. She would change. In front of her class, in front of humans, ignorant and probably uncomprehending humans. She wished to disappear into the ground. Far away from this horrible place.

_Two._

´You do a very good job being in the center of attention of everyone.´ Neither Emma nor Rikki said this but in a bit cynical way a comment of her new tutor. She had risen from her seat, still standing behind the desk a slim folder in her hands.

_One._

Cleo even heard Emma and Rikki holding their breath in expectation._  
_

_Zero._

Nothing happened.

Cleo felt and clearly saw the tiny drops of water on the back of her hand, slowly running down her index finger leaving a slightly shiny trace behind. Dropping on her block the paper instantly absorbed the few bits of water.

Her classmates who had watched Cleo partly shocked, partly fascinated in her hyperventilation disappeared slowly through the door. Still some of them hesitated.

´So what? Next world wonder? ´ Rikki grumbled at them and even made the last go voluntarily.

´You are alright, aren't you? ´ the voice of her teacher disturbed Cleo's trail of thoughts. She obeyed her closely and seemed to be worried.

Cleo glanced at the floor wishing not to blush. ´Yeah, I just got surprised.´ Involuntary she shot a glance at her hand.

´All right, when there's nothing serious.´ She gathered the rest of her few things together, washed away her writings from the blackboard with a sponge, washed her hands, clearly dismissing the chalk's remaining. After she closed the tap again she turned to Lewis. ´McCartney, please. Give that towel back. There's a reason why it's in the front of a classroom and not in the back.´

A bit slow in reaction he walked back to the sink and handed her the white fabric. She took accepted it, hung it back to where it belonged and disappeared on the school hallway.

´What happened? ´ asked Emma as they were alone. Of course she had noticed what happened, yet it didn't mean that she understood.

`I don't know. Why haven't I changed?´ Cleo's fright in her tone of voice would have been impossible to hide. `And this on my first day at school. I am going to be the water freak girl for her.´

`It would've been worse if you would have changed.´ Rikki mumbled. `Then you'd be _the_ mermaid.´ None of the others would say anything against her words.

After all she was right.

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**A/N: Two reviews on one chapter. It's a new record :) Thank you two; mjrocksstl96 - chapter length...um, yes, I'll do my best to improve this (!) Also great thanks to "Guest" - I'll try to update regularly but time is rare =D**


	9. Chapter 9

The first thing Cleo did when she arrived home was to barricade herself in the bathroom. Well, before she slammed the lightly colored entrance door shut behind her, sped upstairs without noticing any surroundings and threw her bag heedlessly into a far corner of her room.

Now facing herself in the mirror she noticed her expression was still struck with fear and angst of the last lesson. Why hadn't she changed? As Rikki said it had been a blessing in disguise that she hadn't changed, yet for a mermaids it was a disguise in blessing not to change when they touched water. And after all she was a mermaid for nearly two years now, wasn't she?

Cleo closely examined her reflection. Her eyes appeared to have captured the sorrow about her secret for the rest of her entire life. It even seemed to have affected the corners of her lips, which were in a straight line instead featuring a small smile as always.

To calm herself Cleo slowly counted to three, inhaling and exhaling for every number she spoke and pronouncing them like she'd learned in kindergarten and primary school.

´Okay, we'll know soon. ` She didn't know why she spoke in plural. It even was a mystery to her why she talked loudly the same.

Cleo turned the water tap fully on and grabbed into the cold water with both hands. Though, it took her some bravery to force her hands staying under the cool water and not pulling away, she even splashed some of it on her arms.

_Two. _

With every second that passed Cleo wished to pull away and dry her hands. For once she was afraid not to change. On the other side she didn't want to think about the prior situation in case she would change.

_One._

It ran against her instincts letting the water flow across her skin. After loosing her inner battle whether to pull away or to stand the jet of water Cleo eventually pulled away and closed the tap in a hurry, still with wet and drippy hands.

_ Zero._

Anxiety in her features Cleo suddenly noticed her mirror image slipping to the left and herself following suit._  
_

`Uh-oh.´ as she lost balance and fell to the floor and hit the soft fabric of the carpet Cleo started laughing in relief. As her feet and legs had vanished and been replaced by an orange fin her former thoughts seemed to have vanished too and changed into pure happiness. Resting her head on the carpet she made fists. Still mermaid!

Then another thought made her frown: When it hadn't been the water, or herself? What was the cause that she hadn't changed?

A few bangs at the bathroom door made her realize that she wasn't , she sat up and blinked a few times. Daylight seemed to have increased in the last few moments. But maybe her mind only played tricks on her and the light had been that clear and warm.

´Boy, Cleo. Hurry up! ´ Her little sister called annoyed and hit again against the wooden door.

´Be patient one time in your life.´ Called Cleo who watched her surroundings. The sink looked quite different from this angle. Taller and almost threatening in its lower shapelessness as well as ceramic clunkiness.

´Dad's impatient with you because you rushed past him without saying a word.´ Kim told her with as much casualness as if she was describing a picture on the wall.

`Okay, you won.´ Wanting to rise to her feet Cleo already had forgotten about the mermaid fin, stumbled backwards and fell again.´I need a little more time.´


	10. Chapter 10

By time darkness enclosed burning lights of the day and radically cooled it down. Red heat was regressed by dark blue coldness from one to the next second and a haze of grey covered everything. I closed the window of my flat swinging back the sash inward and let the roller blinds down - I loved spring rollers, especially wooden, which stopped at any point by activity of a ratchet mechanism. As I sat back in a swivel chair I closed my eyes for the few seconds I inhaled calmly.

Still the different rhythms of night and day of the southern hemisphere dazzled me.

Switching the lights off I woke up my laptop.

From: _ldorset ..._

To: _msishq ..._

Subject: _Second Day_

_A wonderful evening with a lot of rain!_

_Today was a bit better. Well, that's a lie anyway. Nothing happened. I hope it's going to rain soon. I already whish for the day the ticket back to England is in my hands. It's not that bad but hot. I don't want to look like a French fry when I come back, it wouldn't fit the London underground after all. Yet it's quite pretty here._

_Tomorrow's a more explicit report._

_ld_

I closed my computer and turned around in my chair. The dim blue light made the room vague in its silhouettes. This house was beautiful in a way, without question. Not as comfortable as my small flat at home but quite secure and spacious. The intertwining rooms somewhat where like the ones in the house we once possessed in Carlisle, more than twenty years back in the North of England. It somehow had a modern touch of the offices in _Westminster & Son's Bank Ltd. _where I once had been undercover as Christine Burton. The new girl with high qualifications and in a good relationship with the big boss a.k.a. main target.

It's been a lot of experience whereas it had been my first recruitment and I was able to test Chris in every way I wanted. I probably drove him mad and betimes making himself ask what Christine Burton actually was up to. Of course Jason Crane, his boss was the bad guy. But to get a second access I slowly started to gain Chris' trust-which was quite easy. So in case, Crane would have noticed anything being wrong with me, I still would have had Chris to bring him down to his knees. Yet it was Hanna's idea to give him some hints of the nature of our work, so in event he would notice he would try to contact us in some way. He'd set an ad in a local newspaper a few weeks after the file was successfully closed. I already had thought he wouldn't get it anymore. He had been quite shocked as he learned me being his new superior.

At some times I believed that Chris tried to be retributive for kind of every trouble I'd caused him.

Once, in his early training course I'd asked him to attack me and told him that it wouldn't hurt lot. Well, it didn't hurt for me (but for him) as he lost the short fight, not even lasting half a minute. Next I'd scared him with honey-trapping by revealing him that I'd used him before to get a way to his boss. Then I hired Marion to teach him to shoot at me (or anyone else) in case I would tell him to do so.

And he was badly outraged as I actually told him to shoot at me. I'd been in need for some mugging including exchange of fire. As he later found out that this whole operation he should help with had been a fake his attitude didn't get better towards me. The reason behind the fake operation had been an incident with Leyla the week before his training began.

I'd set her on a businessman who had been turned by another secret service before, what we didn't know. In the end he threatened me to kill her when I'd come one step towards both of them. I directly shot him. It happened so fast he probably didn't notice. Unfortunately Leyla freed herself in the moment the bullet went through him and left a superficial wound at the side of her throat. She'd been sent to hospital for two weeks aftermath, very much to her distress.

Hanna then told me that I should get everyone of us mentally so far that they would shoot when necessary. And Chris, being the new guy and my trainee was the first to learn that lesson. I'd been with Leyla in hospital that day so I left it up to Marion to train him precise shooting. As fragile as she always appeared to be no one would expect her to be fan of hunting since she could think.

Next I'd ordered him back to his psychology class. Actually I'd been a bit sassy with him because he was quite good and had skipped psychology for finances. I had the best results this year and so forced him to relearn every psychological skill he once had possessed and would ever posses by heart.

Each time he'd managed it to get a girlfriend and each time he hadn't it were either Leyla, Hanna or me calling out for him to prepare for a new case. However, when it wasn't me to pick him up from somewhere it was no interruption at all- the misery seemingly to laid on me interrupting or cracking all his dates. Well, it mainly had been me knocking at his door at unthinkable times at night or tracking him down in various shopping malls. Of course we have no real working spans. Our work depends on how terrorists and accidents happen to occur.

The only thing I still didn't get was his accurst sorrow. As soon as anything happened Chris was sorrowed. Each time we ran an operation or he'd been in an operation and came back to the head quarter he was sorrowed. When one of the two of us was in a long lasting op, about one or two months, Chris always sent me a text message in the end of it. _How are you? _ Betimes even if one of us got hurt in the slightest of ways.

Yet, if I would have to choose one of the things I'd miss in lack of his company this would be in between the top three. Not that I was ever going to admit it openly, but it was cute in some way that he cared. Hanna said I should be glad that he did, because I didn't.

There were a few other things which regularly made me wish to curse him, I would miss though.

Through his training course I taught him a bit of interrogator. Sadly he'd learned quite fast how to use this knowledge against me. Worse was that I have never met anybody who had the same power over my will. I don't know when he figured out, I probably told him one night I've been drunk because I broke up with a boyfriend. However, he denies that I told It was that asking a question, locking his eyes with mine and nodding. I could fool everyone in this world but not damn him. It always felt like he wanted to persuade me to mentally open up to him: _You can trust me. _And I know I can't and don't want. Somehow I have no choice each time when he does this ask-glance-nod-strategy, then I always am honest. To be kind he never used it for his personal advantage.

Or Leyla, Marion, Peter, Hanna, Ivy…, all of us and also probably the rest of the world wouldn't be able to sneak up behind me. People I know and knew I sort their footsteps in a scheme. So I always know whether to expect danger or not to expect danger. Foreigners I quickly am able to sort them in a specific pattern and against bad guys I easily am able to defend myself. Yet my colleague wanted to be someone special and of course wouldn't let himself sort in any of my provided schemes. As soon as I notice Chris anywhere near me and I don't recognise him my thoughts reflexively turn to self-defence: When there is danger I know how to eliminate this and my mind is on attack.

So I always am close to attack him, yet in the very last second I notice that there is no reason to attack him. Physically I stop every counteraction but mentally I start imagining what I would do. Then I eventually identify him and I jerk backwards because I most definitely don't want to do this.

Another thing he scares me with are his driving skills. He rushes through the streets of London, doing everything but keeping his eyes on the road in front of him for more than five seconds, whilst I cling in the passenger's seat as pale as a glass of milk. That doesn't mean I'm frightened of fast driving but I don't like driving fast.

And it is not the obvious and obviously wrong prejudice that women don't like driving fast at all. It had been an experience in childhood that shaped my personality.

I haven't been an easy-care child anyway. Many things frightened, repelled and disguised me. No one really could reach out for me, neither did I open up to anybody. Actually I ran away several times to be alone but always came back one to two days later, because I didn't want the people around me to be too sorrowed about me. Nevertheless my behaviour was... extraordinary we never had any talks about that issue (my marks were blameless on the contrary). Maybe I've been the stranger all along, a maverick. Nevertheless, I even managed it to have some - two or three - boyfriends to limit trouble _(_it felt like a threat:_ either you finally make social contacts or you'll have to go to psychotherapy again) _until I finally headed for university and Hanna's small group.

* * *

**A/N: I am sorry it took me so incredibly long to update. Last week I have been too far away to do anything plus this chapter was quite difficult to write. :)  
**


	11. Chapter 11

The week passed calmly, there were neither questionings about Cleo's freak-out, nor any further strange thing happening to one of them which would threat their mermaid secret. A bit too calm one may think, because if the development would have been normal there would have been inquiries about Cleo's behavior. Friday afternoon on exactly the second the clock stroke five Lewis, Emma, Rikki and Cleo met at JuiceNet Café. All the four of them had a juice on front of them, orange in color.

They'd searched for a desk far away from the entrance and quite separated from every other desk which was occupied. Not many were occupied anyway. Some couples, a group of young men, a business meeting, two guys quite in front of them and some adults playing billiard

´I don't understand it. At home everything has worked. I am all right, don't feel sick. Nothing.´ Cleo wondered. The happenings on Tuesday morning still stuck on her.

´Don't make a fuss about it. Maybe you just imagined this drop.´

´I have felt it, Rikki. You nearly burnt my hand. In addition you all have seen it.´Said Cleo who clearly remembered how the heat caused by Rikki had swept through her hand.

´Where you influenced by the moon?´ Lewis asked her.

`It was at day. I hardly believe that this could be possible.´ Emma thought loudly but didn't sound reassured at all. ´You weren't under the influence of the moon, were you?´Subconsciously she pushed her drink away, dismissing the idea of the moon.

´Of course not.´ Cleo argued slightly irritated. 'At least I'm quite positive wasn't.´

´We should wait.´ Lewis said, stirring the liquid in his glass with a spoon whilst trying to find a theory. Then started tipping his fingers in a high speed against the surface of the table as he didn't find any and grew more and more impatient with himself. `I'll do some research,´ he muttered.

A woman, shoulder lengths, reddish-brown hair and indefinably grey and blue eyed entranced the Café wearing a shoulder free, nearly ankle lengths and Bordeaux colored dress, still it didn't seem posh but too old fashioned for a sun-frock. She made her way to the bar at once seemingly not noticing any surroundings. Hadn't taken much effort on making her appearance perfect with a lot of makeup and accessories, for moment elegance had its victory as she passed through the room. Then slowly talks were raised again.

´Unbelievable.´ Rikki mumbled and slightly waved a hand at the bar. ´Talking of the devil.´

She said something to Wilfred and both enjoyed a short talk. When he disappeared smiling benignly into the kitchen she leaned against a chair waiting. Lost in thoughts she took a paper napkin and began unfolding it to its full seize, flattened it by tracing the wrinkles slowly with her index finger, then folding it back into size, carefully re-tightening each wrinkle and unfolding it again…

´Which teacher can afford this kind of dress? ´ Emma watched her out of the corner of an eye.

`Not many, as it seems. For she reads horoscopes her styling is good.´ Rikki hit Lewis fingers because he still drummed on the table. ´That is annoying.´ She said and stared past him bugged by the irregular noise he'd created.

At the same moment one of the two guys, one blonde the other dark haired, sitting at the desk in front of them jumped in amazement his stool hitting the floor with a loud bang. Everyone in the Café turned to him, but he didn't care at all and anxiously stared at his glass.

´It's boiling! ´ He shouted.

Emma, Cleo and Lewis faced Rikki inquiringly. ´It is not my fault. That wasn't me.´ She defended herself, irritation in her voice. ´Honestly, I just,´ again she hit Lewis and stared past him instead of explaining what she hadn't done.

´Ow.´ Lewis complained with clenched teeth.

The other guy sitting opposite to the first too jumped backwards. ´Mine too! ´ he exclaimed pointing wildly at the glass containing a pastel green liquid. ´You see the smoke? See the smoke! It's smoking.´ He stated for the third time.

´It wasn't me, trust me.´ Rikki hissed uneasily in her position.

Not paying attention to the trouble which was going to form Lorelei Dorset took her drink from Wilfred, made a wondering gesture towards the two dazzled men who still were too afraid to sit down again. After pointing out their problem she thanked Wilfred, paid and went the same way she had come.

With great curiosity Rikki watched Wilfred trying to calm both young men and eventually taking away both drinks from the desk and held them as he stood.

´Where do you see the problem, mates? They are as cool and smooth as used to be.´, shaking his head he brought the drinks back behind the bar.

Rikki folded her arms in front of her chest in a manner of I-told-you. Though the situation wasn't one to laugh about she couldn't quite prevent a small smile curling up her lips.


	12. Chapter 12

From: _ldorset ..._  
To: _msishq ..._  
Subject: _A week and three days_

_And no rain at all. The warmth is quite probable but I want rain. That sounds like a three year old – sorry._  
_It's a miracle but Chris and I get along better, say, quite normal now. Have you threatened him with deskwork? _  
_However, some things changed. What exactly? In a count of three being a hundred percent I have exactly collected a 66.6666666666…. %.. The day after tomorrow we'll have the last results, at least I hope so. For comparison: CS = average determining water; RC = heating, not only liquids; probably burning and flashlights; EG= cooling down and freezing, not only liquids too. Did you know how boring the job of a teacher is? I always thought the students have to suffer most, since teachers are bores; but actually teachers are boring because their job makes them boring. Marks, Papers, Congresses…oh, next time I'll do a month maximum. Please, let us never do a full year again. It's such a mental torture. _

_ld_

_Thanks for the criminal lighthouse keeper. Even though it's pretty idiotic; which is the world, our world, where lighthouse keepers are criminals? What happened to the great Mafioso guys and real criminals like bombers, traitors and the rest of them? I know we shouldn't whish for it, though a bit action would bring back what you call concentration and adrenaline._

She closed her computer and grabbed an old, washed out, violet cardigan with one hand and a tiny, silver can of oil with the other while she went for the car. Chris already awaited her in a lightly colored van, black wires and a electricity meter formed a reasonably readable writing of a widely spread supplier of electric energy.

´You look old. That blouse is how old? Sixty years? Seventy?´ He said smirking as she climbed in the car and did her seatbelt.

´Eigthy. I already told you that you don't know any good chat up line and you look too good for someone who works in dusty places.´ saying that she reached out for the oil can she'd brought and greased the black gold in her hands. Then she patted Chris cheeks and at the sleeve of his shirt.

´Better.´

´Don't be so cruel to your son. Smells obscene.´

´I am your younger mother, I am allowed to do that.´ she scolded playfully. ´And keep a bit of pity for me as you'll lose me at the criminal lighthouse keeper's lighthouse. In addition, you insulted my blouse.`

` I'll invite you to the finally-got-rid-party afterwards.´

Lorelei put on white gloves, which only matched the image of old woman perfectly.

`Why the gloves?` Chris asked.

`The hands and décolleté give away the age of a woman most plainly.` Said she as she buttoned her white blouse up to her neck.

´Mh-mh.´ He replied. ´You got the data of our lighthouse?´

´Quite like St. Peters Port, just without any castle and about one century younger. Well, it is at the end of a pier. The height could have been worse. You know, that there is a singular boat landing place on the site of the ocean? ´

´You obviously do.´ Chris said instead of saying that he didn't know.

´ For fast escape of our dear Jeremy. If you don't mind, I will minimize his means of escape to a car or a swimming route. Latter he won't see as a true possibility.´

´You don't have to. I can do it, too. See, you probably won't have a lot of time once you jumped, but Jeremy will take me down to his boat. Even if it's just to show me some wheel chair shards.´

´Okay, that's your part. Next we have a mixture of steppingstone and balcony at the height of ten metres in addition to what is between lighthouse and water. I guess about fourteen to eighteen metres in the end.´

´The balcony is a balcony. You use it as steppingstone.´ he mumbled.

´Oh, just enjoy the pretty good equipment we have here!´ _I know I overreact, sorry. it's not your fault._ ´Um… listen, you have to install the wire directly in his data cable so we can intercept all current information running through his systems. I'll give you the very moment you start through radiophony. It might be that you'll have about twenty seconds only. No, he will give you the clue by himself. I'll get the whole software and files on his hard disk and maybe find an extended hard disk. When we are lucky he stores the extended disk there were you install the wire. Here's a flash drive in case it really is there. You then give me the flash drive back.´ She inhaled to pause and made a face. ´Awful, you're right. That stuff smells horribly.´

They said nothing more until a giant dark orange stone terrace came into sight and a rather small tower at the head of it appeared. As they came closer the tower seemingly grew and finally didn't seem to be small at all, more like a faulty designed water tank. A broad, metallic, red painted door with a wheel instead of a handle and small slim windows strengthened the imagination of a reservoir. Behind it the sea rolled constantly against the stones. The car stopped about twenty yards away and Chris climbed out, opened the boot and heaved out a wheel chair.

´Come on, old young woman.´ he helped Lorelei into it. ´It´s a mystery. How did you manage to look about fifty years older than you are? ´

´Dehydration makes a lot, my uneducated son.´ Even if he didn't see her face he surely heard the eye rolling in her voice.

Chris pushed her towards the high building and rang the bell. ´ I won't bother you with my unworthy presence wise mother.´

´Is this an insider for throw yourself off the steppingstone as soon as possible? ´

´Have you expected some different content of my words? ´

They fell silent as steps emerged. A young man dressed in a neatly suit greeted them. It was obvious that whatever he did wasn't for sailors.

´Hello? You're the electricity controllers?! Finally.´ he shot a relieved glance at Chris and a questioning one at Lorelei in a wheelchair smiling kindly up at him.

´I had to bring my mother with me. The nanny called that she couldn't take care for her. So I was forced to bring her with me.´

´That nice man escorted me to the movies. ` Lorelei prattled without context still smiling. Suddenly her smile changed into excitement. ´Must be an expensive movie! Like the old times! ´

´No problem, Daniel. I´ll accompany her while you work. She won't meddle up your work.´ the suit man said, taking over Lorelei's wheel chair.

´She loves the fresh air.´ Chris told him as they entranced the building and a lift, bringing them to the upper floor.

´I have a balcony. You can find us there.´

Chris nodded and went for the technician's room.

Suit man rolled Lorelei onwards. ´God, where has that guy worked before? He stinks like dead fish inlaid in burnt crude naphtha.´ Jeremy Hilford Junior mumbled being slightly disgusted. ´I'll show you a wonderful film with that nice man in it.´ he said louder, and placed her in front of many monitors.

´Who? ´ asked Lorelei.

´The guy who brought you here.´

´Ah…and who are you, young man? ´ she asked curiously. `When I have been young, men like you were rare.´

´Jeremy Hilford Junior, I took over my father's company at the sea.´

Lorelei didn't answer instead watching the screens where Chris was working at the power distribution. They had expected video-surveillance. ´You all play e-piano, you young generation; we had a great piano at home. My husband would play all night if I asked him to do.´ she tells pointing at the keyboard for screen control and leaned forward, switching inadvertently on the radiophony which would enable Chris to listen to their conversation.  
Jeremy Hilford Junior didn't reply anything, watching Chris who started to write down numbers in his files. Suddenly he heard coughing next to him. Turning around he saw Lorelei becoming pale and shaking violently with every cough. ´Wont you kick the bucket!´ He yelled and searched her bag. As he didn't find anything which looked like medicine he ran off to Chris, slamming the door behind him.

In that moment Chris let go of his things but placed the wire inside the mess of other cables and pulled out a flat, black box inserting the flash drive she'd given him earlier.

As Lorelei saw Jeremy on the screens searching for her colleague, she put an USB drive into the computer systems as well and thw copying of his internal and external hard disk progressed automatically. Chris was done with installing, put back the external disk and turned around. He probably heard the loud steps on the staircase. She watched how Junior was talking to Chris, who pulled his flash drive unnoticed by Junior and both hurried back to her. She pulled out the USB herself, stuck it in a plastic lined pocket of her thin jacket and fell back into the wheel chair as the door reopened and both men entranced, shock dominating their expressions. Coughing, less than at the start but still heavily and shaking fiercely she forced tears into her eyes.

´Mum.´ Chris shot forwards, taking her hands in his only to give her his flash drive. Rummaging in his bag and finally finding a dark colored bottle he sprayed it right into her mouth. Shortly afterwards she stopped coughing and watched both with watery eyes.  
Junior leaned forwards, his expression still outraged. ´You all right, Ma'am? `

´Of course, of course. Why are you all so shocked? Did I miss a scene?´ waving one hand she signalized Chris to let go of her. ´I told him so often that ghosts don't exist but he wont listen. That what you get when you believe in those tales, dear!´ She explained, shook her head questioningly and again smiled widely at both. ´Air. I need air. May one of you be so nice and come outside with me. A woman shall never go alone in the streets, you know.´

Sweat tickled down Junior's face and he nodded shakily. ´Yeah, I'll bring you out. Get on with your Job, Daniel.´

Chris nodded and went outside, fulfilling his duty in reading the checking the amount of electricity which flew through that house.

`Good movie. A bit boring if you ask me.´ Lorelei said as they were on the plank. ´Listen, young man, ought you be as kind and bring me a cup of water? Your sudden appearance made my throat dry.´

´But please, don't frighten me again.´ He didn't want a son without nerves when his mother screwed up in his house.

´I am sorry that I did, but I thought it'd be customary to bring guests a cup of water. I didn't want to cause you any trouble, please forgive me.´ She excused.

´I 'll get it.´ Junior hurried inside, thinking that this woman's brain and memory had more holes than a sieve.

´What a wonderful and large swimming pool you have! Very true-to-life!´ He heard her calling after him but didn't pay any attention to her words.

Lorelei stood up and pushed her wheelchair over the balcony. It crashed on the stones and some parts fell into the sea water. Then she stepped back until she felt the closed door behind her back and started running towards the end of the balcony. As the last inches seemed to vanish into air she jumped off.

When Junior was on his way back with a cup of water he met Chris and both went upwards chatting about the rising taxes for energy. Jeremy Hilford Junior opened the door and called out for Daniel's mother. ´I've got your water and your son wants to take you home. We hope you've enjoyed the movie.´

´So, where is she?´ Chris asked as he didn't see her and glanced around an empty room.

´Well, a few seconds ago…´ a sudden thought struck him and he ran to the end of the balcony. The leftovers of a destroyed wheel chair and some sharks in the dark water beneath gave him enough clues to draw an own conclusion. He fell to his knees, pressed himself on the floor and started groaning. ´Oh… my god. No-´

* * *

**A/N: Hey. (= The time passed by unnoticed. Holidays... and now we already have August. I am sorry I kept you waiting for such a long time.  
**

**Thank you so much for you review, h2ojustaddwaterfan!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

They had met at Cleo's at late evening under the pretense of doing homework together. They actually wanted to do their homework, but that was not the primary reason for their meeting. After Cleo'd led her two friends in her room she was called downstairs by her dad. Descending the stairs she thought about the reason for the strange tone in her father's voice.

`I haven't done anything. I swear.´ Rikki said as she closed Cleo's room door and switched the lights on.

´Who did it then, Rikki? ´ Emma sat down at Cleo's bed, threw glance at Rikki and then watched the fish diving through the water of the aquarium. They led a plain life, Emma thought. Doing nothing but breathing, swimming and eating.

´Why shall I know?´ Rikki retorted inquiringly. She also sat down but faced the opposite direction. ´As you have seen, the glasses haven't been hot anymore as Wilfred touched them. Either it was a non commonplace chemical reaction, what would be very weird indeed. Or-´ She paused. ´Maybe you subconsciously cooled it down, Emma.´

Emma kept her eyes on the fish. They are not only breathing, swimming and eating, she noticed. They had a complex life. It seemed as if one was chasing another. A third seemingly was interested in their conversation. Could they actually understand what they said? Rejecting that last thought Emma shook her head slightly. ´I doubt that. I would have noticed if I would cool something down.´

´Don't you think I'd notice it, too?´

´I don't think anything.´ Emma replied and exhaled being suddenly overly exhausted. She fell back on Cleo's bed and furrowed a brow at the ceiling. ´Something runs very wrong.´

´What is that something?' Rikki mumbled. ´And what is wrong? How should it be instead?´

Cleo entered the room. ´Dad thinks I messed up with someone. He'd love to prove it would be Lewis so he can scream at him.´

´You should better warn Lewis and tell him about the crime he didn't commit.´ Rikki said, changing subconsciously to what had happened at the JuiceNet Cafè.

´She's right.´ Emma added. ´It might have been something different and not Rikki to heat the liquid.´

´Yeah. But who? Or what?´ Cleo threw a magazine aside and too sat down on her bed. Emma propped up and grabbed the magazine. A dark blue cover with an overly sized full moon on front page.

´_My Horoscope – Special Edition: The way the moon impairs our sleep´ _She read out loud, surprise and amusement in her voice. ´Oi, I didn't know you were reading such kinds of magazines.´

´No wonder, that your dad is worried about you.´ Rikki smiled.

Cleo rolled her eyes. ´It's not mine. Well, in a way it is. On my way home I've seen our tutor again. She flicked through a dozen of those magazines and finally bought that one.´

´So you bought that too just to see what she reads.´ Emma observed and flipped through the pages to find the requested page. _´The moon. A mystery since a hundredths of years. There rarely have been more myths about any other compound of our universe...´_She stopped reading. ´Nonsense,´ she murmured.

´Exactly. We have to be careful. She probably believes in that whole stuff. I don't want to give her autographs in the end.´

* * *

**This again is a short chapter but not as dark as the previous one.**


	14. Chapter 14

Switching on the light beside her bed Cassandra Johnson sat up sleepily and pushed away her linen. She sighed heavily and riffled through her dark hair. After a few moments of silent consideration she rose to her feet, switched the soft light off, padded through the dark room and tried to find the door handle. Unfortunately she hit the light switch instead and dazzling light flooded the room making her flinch away easily. As she eventually entered the living room with a fleecy green security blanket wrapped around her Ethan, her fiancé was awake and fully dressed working on his lap top.

´Are you still awake or again?´ She asked yawning as she sat down beside him.

´Again. I carried on with the book as you started mumbling in your sleep.´ he smiled and hugged her closely. ´It's brightest daylight outside, dearest.´

`I am sorry.` she leaned into his embrace and yawned. ´I didn't want to rob your sleep.´

´Authors never sleep. Did you dream again?´ He inquired. That blanket was a nearly hundred percent indicator if she had dreamed badly. ´_The _dream?´ Since he knew her he knew that she was troubled by one specific kind of dream which repeated itself in irregular rhythms. However she rarely talked about it, still he mostly saw when it possessed her thoughts. First he'd assumed that it was her work giving her such dreams, but she'd reassured him by revealing that she already dreamed it since High School.

Cassandra nodded and closed her eyes while she reached out and grabbed around his waist, resting her head at his chest. ´The two parted one, you know. First I see that girl, the fishtail girl. She calls out for me and she's happy and trusts me. I can't hear her voice still I know she's calling out for me. It's so bloody peaceful like _best friends forever_ or that kind of stuff. In the next scene she is afraid of me and a human. I know it's the same girl, I don't know why but I know it. And I know the second scene is a real memory of mine. What makes it even more pointless.´

`Why is this troubling you so much, dear?`, he couldn't quite see why this dream would be so mysterious. After all it was just a dream, maybe one of a fourteen-year-old dreamy girl. Yet as far as he guessed Cassandra had never been a lot of dreamy. She was a romantic when they were alone and a bit of philosophic when she helped him with his books.

He knew she'd practically been an orphan since birth and stayed until she was fifteen and abducted from an orphanage. She'd disappeared for nearly a whole month and the chances to find her alive had probably sunken below the percentage of a zero percent. Against all odds a cycler found her unconscious and with a heavy skull fracture at some picnic area close to Dover. She'd lost memory of what happened through her abduction and all medical as same as psychological tests said she'd be fine. The fracture was the worst and only hurt she'd carried away through that time and probably the reason why she'd lost her memory. She'd entered secret service after she was requested as personnel through a telephone company and easily recruited.

He'd been a journalist who earned himself barely enough money to pay the rent and secretly dreamt of writing a novel. Because of the directions of their jobs they'd met a couple of years ago and fallen in love the same moment she directed him outside an operation. A few days later she'd knocked at his front door just to say _Hi _and stayed ever since.

Ethan glanced down at her.

´I can hear her voice. She's saying something, but I forget it over and over again. I want to know what she says.´ Cassandra glanced up at him as if he would be able to answer to that problem.

´It's just a dream, Cassie.´ He stroked a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

´Dreams are mixtures consisting of consciously experience and unconsciously experienced reality, the same as memories and both conscious and subconscious whishes.´, she held against quietly but in a determined tone.

´Not everything in this world has to be reasoned, or have a clear cause. Don't let yourself be too taken by your job. There are things without reason.´

´Then wherefrom do I know that the situation with the girl is a true memory and the rest some sick and indefinable mixture of reality and whish? Which whish is it where mermaids take place? I never believed in that stuff.´ Cassandra mumbled softly against his chest.

´Maybe you watched _Arielle _shortly before you dreamed it and projected the memories on than girl.´

´I don't watch mermaid-tales! First I believed the person with the fishtail would be me but that's impossible as I see the scene and act myself. She has a green fin, it's very well blended in the water. Camouflage might be the only correct thing in that whole story. I help her out the water and take her in my arms, like a hug. Why? Why do I dream such crap? Why do I hug a half-fish?´ Maybe she actually had watched _Arielle_ before and only forgot that she'd seen the movie.

´You take her in your arms? A miniature-model-mermaid?´

´A young child.´ she says.

´I thought, you'd be talking of a youth. Aren't the average figures at least twelve or adults? At least they have to be old enough to fall for a human.´

´Dunno. Maybe she's in an early kindergarten-age.´ Cassandra guessed.

´A three year old who's able to swim?´

´She has a fin, Ethan. Of course she's able to swim.´ she stopped as she realized her words. ´See, I already defend her! I defend someone who doesn't exist. That's so sick – uh!´

´And in the second part of your dream you see her _again_?´

´Yeah. Just as a human. And she's so bloody afraid of me. You may think I would've killed her favourite pet. I believe, I haven't been quite friendly anyway. The environment around us is pretty light and somehow cold. Not so glimmering and shimmering as first.´

´A trauma?´ he asked.

´Pfh? Of what? A children's book or movie?´ She chuckled. Well, it definitively would be a possibility.

´Cassandra…´, Ethan sighed heavily.

´I know, I know. I shouldn't handle it like that. A month of abduction….of course I am a bit traumatized by that, or else I'd say three weeks, four days and eight hours and would not have woken up in a hospital without any traces of injuries in exception of a quite dangerous skull fracture. I was sixteen or fifteen, whatever. Nothing happened to me in those weeks, they did every test they were able to do in this country. I am all right, Ethan.´

He didn't seem to be convinced. She sat up and took both of his hands in hers.

´There are a few things you shall never forget: First: I`ll never lie to you about my emotions. Second: I love you.´ Cassandra mirrored the warm smile spreading over his face and made his eyes sparkle. Shortly her glance slipped to his work. ´What kind of book are you writing, it's a new as I see.´

´You`ll never guess.´ Ethan grinned mischievously and Cassandra raised a brow.

´Argh, she even got you already. And you don't know that girl.´

´Wrong lead, dear. A frog suddenly becomes human and learns that there is way more than the pond. And the humans learn to be more eloquent with their environment. A children's book.´ He explained being proud of his idea.

´I liked your science fiction novel more. How about a crime novel?´ She asked.

Ethan pretended to muse about her idea. ´Maybe, how about...um..._The non-commonplace mystery of the fishtail girl ?_´

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hi :-) I am sorry it again I kept you waiting such a long time. Still I have to concentrate on school and that's already quite complicated. So it also might take a while until the next chapter is uploaded. **


	15. Chapter 15

While I poured boiling water in a bowling pin shaped glass pot, the fine scent of Earl Grey tea slowly spread through my living room. Carefully I placed the heater next to the small table as the pot was filled. Ignoring the moist steam adhering every millimetre of my face I inhaled deeply, directly above it. Then I blinked a few times and blew away the hot steam. The white smokes formed bizarre as same as blurry images and finally dissolved into air.

As my phone rang- and disturbed that wonderful silence- I exactly knew why I shouldn't answer. To speak more plainly, I knew I should answer; still I didn't want to face that encounter right now. Sadly my sense of duty was stronger and I answered. Yet, not without inhaling another time the odour of my calming Earl Grey tea. Taking the receiver with my left hand I already regretted it, because the suture on my ankle still ached, even though I wore a bandage around it. Damn cragged ocean bed.

`Jup`

`You messed up a lot.´ Criticizing. Chris. Maybe I should tell him about the same intonation of the word and his name.

`The plan was for me to jump.´ I told him instead and took the receiver in my right hand, whilst I held my other above the fading heat steams of the pot.

´How did you get the sharks there, without them eating you up? ´

´I miscalculated the depths of water and hit Davy Jones's locker with my hand, ankle and arm. Believe it or don't, the sharks came voluntarily; it wasn't necessary to invite them for a happy dinner party. However, the sharks will make it harder for him to believe I'd be still alive, in addition to the appearance as someone quite old and handicapped.´ I explained, yet not giving the full answer to his question and threw a glance at my arm. The bandage, not very beautiful but enough for its purpose, covered the wound completely. It was an about ten centimeters superficial lesion, somehow serrated and surrounded by an abrasion. At least it wasn't a smooth cut, which I was grateful for - those took longer to heal completely.

´Hilford Junior wouldn't get police into it, just to save his own actions. You know, that's why we planned your disappearance as a death. You mustn't have taken hat risk on you.´ he didn't seem to understand that I didn't hit that rock voluntarily. I never really understood all swimming safety rules. Don't jump into foreign waters didn't seem to be as pointless as I always thought. Furthermore, they should amplify the rule with the adding of not to jump from lighthouses into oceans.

`I already send a copy of the flash drives to Canberra.´ I said to distract him from the wound on my arm. `They'll arrest Hilford tonight. It should give him enough time to remove what I left of the wheelchair. Hopefully he doesn't throw it in the ocean. For all his doomed to failure plans he should be grateful to nature he's still alive and not pollute the ocean more than it already is.´ I paused shortly. ´Hannah's going to get a back up copy of the case as soon as he's locked.´

`Actually I wasn't talking of late afternoon.´ Chris attempted to force me to explain my earlier actions.

`So what? That's my job, isn't it? ´ I replied, answering to his subtext. I shouldn't have given Hanna false hope that Chris and I would agree with each other's plans easily. ´Only the other humans shouldn't notice a thing. ´ I cited what he'd told me earlier. ´Accentuation on human.´

He let out a sigh. I knew Chris was ruffling his hair right now, searching for an answer and trying to remember what exactly he'd said. Next he would tell me, that I was amazingly unaccountable according to my own safety.

`I can take care for myself if I want. It might be a fact that you got your degree in psychology but the same have I and you too know that human brain is unable to notice everything.´ as it had slipped out I regretted my words. ´I very exactly know what I do. ´

I heard him exhale resigned. Next he would change issues, just to come back to this point later. `Okay. You just shouldn't direct your class as you do know. Most of your students and the other teachers already like you too much to let you go in the end of the year.`

I made a face, being glad he couldn't see it. ´I bet Lisa wants to keep you here, too.´

´Oh, damn it. I already forgot about that.´ he groaned. ´I believe we had a meeting in the next few days.´

´Give peace a chance.´

´There's too much distraction around.´ His answer startled me in its seriousness.

´Are you complaining, doctor?´ I asked lightly to change his mood, or to figure out how serious he was.

´Not at least, doctor.´ Seemingly Chris was quite serious about this distraction.

´A possible national threat is a distraction for you?´ Hopefully I was wrong with my assumption, for I didn't know how to tell Hanna if he'd react agreeing.

´It's more a certain someone I don't want to name who's constantly searching for new methods to drive me mad and probably needs more protection than everyone else together.´ Chris told me in playful graveness. Subconsciously I'd stopped breathing the moment he started explaining. A silence rose between us. Still I didn't seem to be capable of breathing.

´Breathe.´ He ordered eventually and I exhaled. ´I didn't want to shock you.´

´Maybe I don't seem to be as dangerous as I really am.´ I guessed bluntly, more resentful because he assumed he'd shocked me than his whole procedure he'd created before.

`Dangerous? `

`See you tomorrow. ` I hung up the phone without answering. This sentence gave away too much of what I did and didn't know about me. Not a second later my phone beeped telling me I'd received a new message.

_How are you?_

_Arm still aches. How are you?_

_Concerned_

_Don't be. Everything's fine._

I poured the tea into a small and somehow filigree ceramic tea cup and took a large sip. It had rapidly cooled down during our discussion.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Hey. Finished with a next chapter. And without help of any holidays :-) I hope you like(d) it.**


	16. Chapter 16

The second full moon in this semester came along with cooler days and nights. This time Cleo and Rikki met at Emma's. She'd promised her parents who were out in a theatre to take care of her younger brother. Elliot wasn't as glad as Emma was, for he had to stand his sister and her two best friends for the whole evening. Cleo didn't even bring Kim along, so he had not even a chance to find distraction anywhere save in his video games. Though all video games he possessed were boring by time.

He also knew that he had to go to bed early, because his sister was quite strict on those matters. Being impatient and bored he hit his fork on several dishes until he found a well sounding rhythm. But just as he found it, Emma took the dishes out of his reach. Annoyed he hit the table. Only as Emma grabbed his fork, he frowned. ´Ey, ya' that's mine.´

´It's not.´ she replied quickly.

`Who wants hot tea? Milk? Anything else?` Rikki asked standing in the kitchen. ´And don't be so harsh. I liked that rhythm.´

`I didn't like it. Tea.` called Emma.

`Me too.` Cleo added. ´Both tea and rhythm.´

`I want milk.´ Elliot said.

`Just if you go to bed when you're finished.` his elderly sister decided immediately.

Pouting he gave in. `Fine.` not sounding fine at all.

Rikki placed four empty cups in front of her, filled them with tea and milk and made slowly, swinging movements with her hand as if she'd be charming a poisonous snake. After a while she placed them on a tray and gave everyone a cup of of what they'd requested.

`How did you heat the milk?` he asked nosily.

`It already has been heated, otherwise I'd asked for cold milk and tea.` she replied sharply, so that he wouldn't ask another question.

´No, no new horoscope! You're getting obsessed with these.´ Rikki remarked as she saw Cleo flipping through pages of a dark colored magazine.

´Well, it's not mine actually. I just lend this one. Most of the forecasts aren't true anyway. But its funny. Elliot, which sign of the zodiac is yours?´

Surprised to be mentioned Elliot lifted his head and stopped staring at his cup of milk. ´It's Aries, I assume.´

´Let's see what Aries says…´ Cleo mumbled searching for the right page. ´Here it is. First of all, you have got or Aries is the cardinal sign of fire, whatever that means. Aries says you're courageous and enterprising but also moody and impatient.´

´I am not impatient.´ Elliot complained. ´And not moody.´

´It doesn't have to be true, Elliot.´ Emma reassured him, whilst Rikki took the magazine away from Cleo and looked up her own birth date.

´Yet it's quite good what they print about me.´ She mumbled and didn't wait for anyone to ask but read it out loud instantly. ´Libra have a feeling for beauty, are wise, helpful and friendly.´

´I guess everyone is a bit like that.´ Cleo remarked. ´What are the so called negative character traits?´ she inquired in the same sentence.

Rikki smirked. ´ We are erratic, indifferent and love to be convenient. That indifferent annoys me, but the rest is quite okay. And it's the cardinal sign of air, well that's quite pointless too. Why air? Fire would be a lot better. What's about you, Emma?´

´I don't want-´

´You're Gemini, aren't you?´ Rikki requested

´Yeah, but I am not interested in horoscopes. Enough you got Elliot into it.´ Emma protested but was ignored as Rikki exclaimed to have found her.

´Got ya'! Your sign is the mutable sign of air.´

´I don't transform into a bird, nor did I ever wanted to fly.´

But Rikki was too much in it to care about Emma's objections. ´But your traits are quite adorable ones. Doesn't everyone wish to be skillful, humorous and persuasive?´

´So why I am not able to convince you to put it away?´ Emma asked ironically.

´I'm too indifferent on that point.´ Rikki smirked. ´Sadly you also are restless and nervous.´

´Emma's not.` Elliot replied at once. ´And you're boring. That's girl's stuff. I'll go to bed. Night, night.´ he rose and left the kitchen.

´Don't forget brushing your teeth.´ Emma called after him

´I won't.´ he mumbled and went upstairs.

´I either don't know what is so fascinating about that stuff, but, well, it's great distraction. ´ Cleo admitted, wanting to show some sympathy for Elliot and Emma.

That only drew Rikki's attention to her. ´Yours also is quite well promising. You really are sensitive and reasonable and the negative features don't fit on you, so we may skip them. And your sign is…um, wait…Cancer has the cardinal sign of water.´ She threw a meaningful glance at Cleo. ´That should count for something, don't you think?´

´I am not sure.´ she mumbled uncertainly, grabbed the magazine and closed it. ´I have to bring it back to library tomorrow.´ Whilst putting it in her bag Cleo's glance fell on Emma's biology folder, lying under her seat. ´Gosh, have you already done your homework?´ she asked automatically, remembering a quite difficult task.

´No, I haven't even read the task.´, Rikki said disinterestedly.

´Yeah, it was simple.´ Emma replied the same moment.

´And what should we do? I thought it wasn't simple.´

´Something about the process of osmosis. Did you know, that water animals are isotonic to the water, so they won't burst, if they stay underwater for a longer period of time?´

´Does that mean, that our cells change from hypertonic to solutes to isotonic to water the very moment we change?´ Cleo asked bewildered.

´That's crazy.´, mumbled Rikki. ´But maybe we aren't long enough under water and our cells can cope the average pressure and the process of osmosis isn't strong, say, there isn't much water molecules passing into our skin.´

´We may ask him what it would be.´ Cleo supposed.

´Better not, just imagine it. One hypothetical question, Doc. What about mermaids? Wouldn't they burst if they dive too long? Or shrink as soon as they touch land again?´

Emma couldn't stop grinning about the imagination what would happen if they'd actually ask such a kind of question. ´I bet, it would at least be an interesting discussion.´

* * *

**Yeah, Doc Manager works again!  
**

**Hi, involving the horoscopes of the three a bit more than originally intended was quite difficult. I hope it worked somehow. Still thank you for your request, h2o fan! :D**

**^v^**


	17. Chapter 17

A week later, on an early Friday morning, it finally rained. As all streets lay dark a mild rain set in, only visible through light cones which were sent to spread their reassuring brightness by various street lamps. But by time the sun rose and a new day dawned the rain had increased badly; now hammering against windows and on roofs with violent force. Like it wanted to break down the fragile glass into millions of shreds, just to follow them suit and enter any house itself.

Some were brave enough encountering the rain with an umbrella, yet it would take a good, in no way transparent rain coat not to be soaked through in the first ten seconds.

Christian Brown was close to lock the door behind him and head off for school as he heard something cracking deafeningly and reflexively winced. It sounded as if someone who had way too much energy would throw his furniture through the rooms and break down every single wall by jumping against it. Like the two Gauls _Asterix_ and _Obelix_ encountering some Roman legion. Just as he hoped it was over, again something cracked up and this time glass broke into pieces. Instantly he guessed what it could be. Had the rain finally broken a window? But what had been the other noise? Then something snapped and the single outdoor light went out. He still had the key in his hands, a great black umbrella next to him, leaned on a heavy bag.

It reminded him of a blasting they had once done, blowing up an idle as same as rusty cruise liner to see how metal bars would fly and which possibilities of access they would have. Through the years he came to the conclusion that any explosions where Peter's favourite disasters as he virtually re-enacted the scenes and came up with a complete procedure twenty minutes later.

He cursed inwardly, pushed the door open, hung his jacket in the half dark on a hook behind it and searched for a flashlight, torches, anything which would enlighten the flat more than the daylight could.

Having a rather small than tall beam of light he passed his relatively huge kitchen and tried to open the door to his living room by pushing away whatever lay behind it. He already suspected that he could skip the class he had today.

A cold cloud of dust greeted and surrounded him as soon as he managed to open the door so much to be able to entrance and see what had happened. A hole of the size of a four-by-four ornamented the ceiling. On the floor were scattered several parts of what intentionally should have been stuck somewhere in the flat roof. The small, transparent living room desk made of glass didn't exist anymore, but its shreds had mixed with the rest of the furniture which had once been there. The same had seemingly happened with the couch, being buried under dust and housetop. The single cupboard in that room had fallen down, pieces of the roof in its hind side, like it had been stabbed with insulation. Books, cups and his prior half filled tea pot had fallen out and were spilled over the floor, partly trashed by roof parts. The wall seemingly spit out loose wires. He unwillingly thought of _shock-headed Peter's_ nails by the sight of it and shuddered. In a wire loop hung cardboard. Some over-lefts of the electrical supplemental box where somewhere mixed into the chaos of roof, furniture and room.

Fortunately, it was just the living room, the one-storey-part of his flat and not the kitchen, which would have included his bedroom and a lot more of damage.

He shut the door behind him, exhaling the first time since he'd opened it, secretly was glad it didn't break out of its ankles and looked for his phone until he remembered having it left on the glass table in his living room. Knowing it hadn't any point wanting find it by digging himself through that mess, he sighed and searched for his mobile phone inside the pocket of his dark suit instead. After he found it he canceled the lesson he had today.

As soon as he had finished the nerve-racking chat he heard a silent but constant beeping out of his pocket. After a few seconds he fastened the device behind his ear. ´What are you doing? Stop that noise, please.´

´Getting your attention.´ She replied in her used to casual manner, in the same second that annoying beeping stopped. ´I just heard you won't attend lessons today. I thought you'd have left the age of making blue behind you.´ He heard the voice of his colleague through the small piece and somehow knew she would use this situation to tease him on later occasions, whenever these occasions would come.

´I don't see any point in leaving home. Have you ever felt like anything crashes down on you?´ he asked.

´Literally or metaphorically?´ she requested.

´Um…both, I'd say.´, answered he dryly. ´If the rain doesn't stop in the next few hours I might use my living room as a swimming pool.´

`That… sounds bad.´ she said slowly.

´I have no electricity either. As soon as the weather calms I'm going to repair the worst lacks.´

´I'll visit you tonight and help you. You wouldn't miss a lot anyway. Our three aren't going to come. To be honest, it would be stranger if they came than to stay at home. About seven, is that fine with you?´

´Yeah, a promise?´

´A threat.´ Her smile sounded through the device and as he wanted to reply his torch gave up.

´Damn it.´ He exclaimed.

´I shouldn't come?´ She instantly asked.

´No- it wasn't about you. You haven't got any batteries, have you?´ He asked and shook his torch in hope the missing light only would be the consequence of a loose contact. Nothing happened.

´Why?´

´My torch just died without saying goodbye. At home I'd have emergency beams but here…´

´Yes, at home; no, not at this home. So I have none in the end, sorry. It's going to dawn soon. You'll need light again when the clock strikes eight past meridian. Good luck then.´

´Thanks, you too.´

* * *

**Hi there! **

**:D**

**Hope you all are fine, as winter slowly starts to replace autumn and a great wave of cold rolls over Europe (and probably the whole Northern Hemisphere)**


	18. Chapter 18

_"__Oh, I really hope we're not too eye-catching." Cleo mumbled and fell back on her bed, the receiver in her hands.  
_

_"__What do you mean by eye-catching?" asked Rikki, repeating the last word doubtfully.  
_

_"__We're missing again. __All the three of us. Someday someone is going to notice something." She guessed. "Kim, of course, suspects anything."  
_

_"__Ah, no one ever takes care about who's attending classes and who's not." Rikki tried to calm her.  
_

She didn't know about Lisa Rowen planning to make an attempt on her tutor's being on duty. It suited her that the three girls missed again, she wouldn't have cared a lot naturally, but it was her chance to decently cause some problems that Dorset would have to solve on her own. Make her insecure in some way, less easy go with her colleagues, whatever… just to catapult her outside her range of being a competitor. For ever, if possible.

Lisa Rowen, secretary of Gold Coast High for five years now, waited until Lorelei Dorset had sat down and was deeply busy with some test papers she checked. Then she gained all her bravery, there was something about that woman what made it difficult to judge her, and straightly went to her. It was a minor victory that she stood, whereas the teacher sat down, making her way smaller in height.

"Three of your students announced being ill today." Seeking for some mental help, even though she knew what she'd say next, she glanced at the piece of paper in her hands. "Um… Emma Gilbert, Cleo Sertori and Rikki Chadwick. They're absent. Again."

"I know; thank you for telling me that it actually is an illness and no other cause.", the other woman shortly smiled up at her, before resuming her work.

"Well, this… this isn't normal. It can't be." Lisa added growing more demanding as she spoke, yet didn't receive the success she'd expected.

Her counterpart remained politely interested, still sounding slightly bored. "Why do you think it's abnormal? Some illnesses only occur under specific weather situations."

Though Lisa swallowed down a sharp comment on this naïvety her glance gave her thoughts away. As Lorelei wrote something down in the faint blue register, probably noting who didn't attend class this day, a genuine smile spread over her features. _Ha, as if you already knew, they'd be absent today!  
_

She sighed, closed the class-register with a silent snap and Lisa felt a sudden wave of guilt, having her misjudged. At the moment there was no obvious reason she could see not to like her. She was just a teacher, after all. Human and incomplete at some moments.

"It's not that easy to judge over, sadly.", giving her thought sound as though reading her mind, yet relating to another issue. "Years ago I've been a child too and it was all horrible with me. Every time the temperature would rise over thirty degrees Celsius, not Fahrenheit obviously, I suffered headache and bad stomach disorders… however, not a nice story." Shaking her head, she cleared her throat. "Fortunately, we rarely have those really hot days in England."

Again Lisa knew why she didn't like her. It wasn't the job, it was personal. Lorelei Dorset weakened her arguments and just was more confident in every way than herself and if it was only about the absentees of students in her classes.

"You don't have those problems now?" Lisa asked in a polite tone.

As the interest came, it seemed to fade rapidly. Or maybe, she didn't want to talk about her health problems. "Drugs. Medicine improved in many ways since then."

Hearing that reply she thought the conversation ended, turned away to go back to her desk, where she'd be in control of really everything. "Give it to your students then." she muttered.

She was surprised that Lorelei heard it, less that she commented it. "Chuntering will do no one no good. I can't administer them something blindly. It cures heat no hundred percent atmospheric humidity."

Being dazzled by that she turned back to her, stepping backwards the same moment. "What?"

"One has to take the correct medicine to cure the occurred cause. It would be worse if I knew my class would write a test today. As we don't why overact so badly? I'm going to talk to them anyway. Do you have access to their internal telephones?", her eyes sparkled as she asked this, as if she'd wanted to add something even more specific.

Or it was her choice of words, which was too simple at some times and too complicated at others. But if she thought about that issue correctly every language teacher displayed that annoying inconsistent feature. She wanted to know everything and be in control of everything, like it had been those peaceful years before.

„Eh?... um... what shall I know?" Knowing every word she said, didn't mean knowing what she meant. _Inscrutable woman!_

Having literally a patience of Job Lorelei Dorset explained all the misconceptions. "Would you please be as kind and give me the three phone numbers I need?"

"Yeah. Of course." A second time in a few minutes Lisa turned around, but this time the Literature teacher followed her – a second small victory, she knew something Lorelei Dorset didn't know;_ Ha! Finally!_ – and waited opposite her large desk, carefully not intruding Lisa's space.

"Aren't their numbers in the register?" Lisa requested

The teacher glanced backwards. "Oh, that's no register. My schedule for marks... lower grade. Though I'd like to know where that book hides away. Like _Anderson's_ book, I put it away in a hurry once and never found it again."

"Okay." Mh, she was in mood to talk today. Maybe she could use it to get anything out of her. Later, not now...

She waited patiently as Lisa searched through the school intranet, wrote down the few numbers and then Lisa watched her going back to her desk, shortly stopping at the electric kettle, setting it on, pulling out a teabag with one hand, putting it into a black cup, placing the cup on her desk and dialing the first number. That's it, Lisa thought. Maybe she hadn't had that crap medicine today and that's why she was easier to understand.

_Cleo just sat down in front of the TV in her pyjama and started zapping through the programs as the phone rang. __She tuned off and lazily went for it. _

_„__Hello? Sertori_."

„Dorset here."

_Immediately she stood upright and subconsciously she swallowed, unable to say a word. Why did she call?  
_

„Your tutor as you should remember." _She heard through the receiver after a long silence, making her realize she should say something. Something which made sense.  
_

_„__Oh, em... __Good morning." Cleo squeaked, still being startled.  
_

"Too many clouds for a truly good morning…"

_Something exploded in the background and Cleo jumped back and exclaimed a "What was that?"_

_For a few seconds she didn't receive an answer. As she heard it, she would swear that her tutor smiled._ "Well, the kettle bursted. Seemingly."

_"__The kettle exploded?" she requested in a still to high and choked voice. _

"Must have overheated. Bloody electronics. Excuse me for a few seconds."

_"__Oh." She heard some voices but couldn't understand what they said. Someone shouted. "Flying cattle. Retreat." A male voice. Shortly after that call she heard a desperate "Linguists. Curse them." She guessed it was the school's secretary.  
_

„Good morning then." _The background noise piped down. _ _A deep sigh followed._ „I was told that you, say, you and your two best friends already missed a few lessons. Strangely, never singular, but every time the three of you. Which means same date, same hour."

_Emma kept her glance at a picture beside the phone. "I didn't notice that.", she attempted to lie. __"__It… must be by chance. __Every time. Somehow" Unfortunately, it didn't sound very convincing, not even to her own ears. As her tutor answered she didn't get a word, because a rumble made her nearly inaudible. „__I am sorry. __May you please repeat what you just said? I listened, but it was loud around you."_

"I wanted tea. An electric kettle blasted a few minutes ago and probably no one saw a kettle before."

_"__Why? A kettle?" she asked, before she noticed that she probably shouldn't ask such a thing. It may run too personal. And it did.  
_

"Maybe it didn't want to get oppressed anymore. For heaven's sake, it's just a kettle and not the school."

_"__Sorry." Emma excused quickly._

„I told our secretary, you'd be sick. Though I expect a written excuse from your parents or a doctor until Monday, unasked. If it's not Monday, whenever you're going to be back at school again. Because I want to make sure that you actually have been ill and don't… skip my classes for no peculiar reason."

_"__Even skipping classes has a reason." __Rikki interrupted. Damn your big mouth, she scolded herself.  
_

"It also might be the weather, even though I honestly recommend you to skip classes when the sun is shining, that's way more fun."

_„__Of course it's because of this fantastic weather. __What else did you expect?" Double damn it.  
_

„I am curious to hear your suggestions." _Her tutor replied alluringly. Her irritation faded abruptly and she was close to actually give an honest answer, as her thoughts were interrupted. _"You don't have to answer this truthfully, Rikki, it was a rhetorical order. Get well soon."

_„__Yeah, goodbye then." Rikki mumbled puzzled by her own reaction, cut the call off instantly and dialed Emma's number. „Did she call you too?" She asked as soon as she heard, that someone took the receiver._

_"Rikki? Is that you?" Her mom asked and Rikki silently cursed herself.  
_

_"Yes, Mrs. Gilbert. Can I talk to Emma, please?"  
_

_"One sec, she's upstairs."  
_

* * *

**Hey =) Christmas time successfully survived. Hope you too did. It's difficult with all this chocolate, everywhere... :D I'd uploaded earlier, but then I got new books and had to read at least one of it before Christmas time is over. It's a book, I couldn't help it.  
Thanks to liveonpurpose, for your kind comments. (:  
**

**After reading and re-reading it over and over, I wouldn't know what to change, so, hope you enjoyed reading! Hope it's not too mixed up.  
**

**And as the year draws to a close I wish you all a fantastic remaining week and a Happy New Year :)  
**

**Bye (:  
**


	19. Chapter 19

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't even know why I am writing. What do people normally write? What do average people write? Why do they write? Are they bored? Have a huge amount of time? Experienced something good? Bad? Something they can't explain?_

_Maybe then I should be writing for years, since I was nine, or nine years and a few months old. Or a year, not to exaggerate things. I am ten now, but will be eleven tomorrow. So, if I would write tomorrow it nearly would be years.  
_

_Yes, maybe people start writing diary because they want to share their secrets. Secrets they can't share with anyone else, not even with their closest family members. No one, which really means no one. Nor some stranger, who'd give you a get-a-therapist-and-do-not-bore-me look and walk past shaking his, or her head. Who knows. Well, I don't even want to know._

_I said something about secrets, actually I said nothing at all, but I mentioned secrets and I want to share some secrets. Some may think, it's me being a relatively good singer. A secrets stops being a secret as soon as you tell someone else about it. According to that this is no , it has never been one.  
_

_The secret is a little bit more complicated and less average. Yet, I don't want to mention it, because I promised someone not to mention it and actually to burn everything I have about it and will have about it. Or did she make me promise it? I am not sure._

_However, I will note some keywords, only understandable for special, very special people: Ireland. Moon. Water bubbles._

_As I said, I have been nine and extremely curious. (The only difference to today is, that I am ten.) And my parents have been away for a short time. So I explored the nearby surroundings of our town on my own. At some late time, it already has been dark outside, I arrived at some dark cave filled with water. it formed something like a pool, a moon pool I learned hours later. And the water seemed to be quite inviting, maybe seductive - this sounds strange I know, but it was like whispering "come with me" -, so I jumped into it, made it splash against the rocky walls. That was funny, but then the mystery about it started. And tiny, and bigger water bubbles floated upon the air into the moonlight shining from above. Beautiful. I couldn't describe it and still can't. It was just amazing. Breathtaking. That has been my last night as an average, boring girl. Things very well changed. Not only things.  
_

_I said it was a secret. I told no one. That part is true, I never told anybody but someone found it out. Still, I can't say for sure how Leslie, or Lizzy (?) knew. She knew and that is everything what mattered. It indeed would have been horrible if she wouldn't have known._

_She was a medicine student from London and wanted to earn some extra money through baby-sitting in her semester holidays to pay rent for her flat (she didn't find any flatmate, because they considered her as boring, lame and extremely choosy - I only can guarantee for the last of her features). She saved me, in some way. I didn't knew it then, realized it later though. I've been out in the park, when some water sprinkler turned to me. She pulled me away and quickly gave me her jacket and told me (quite commanding) to dry me at once. As I hesitated she did it. I thought she was crazy and shouted at her to let go of me and run away. As I turned around to see whether she'd follow me, she'd disappeared. _

_At home I noticed why she did it. The exact moment I realized what she'd done was when I turned the shower on and waited for the water to grow warm. I fell headlong into the tub. I turned. Changed. Whatever. And I am glad she did help me, because I don't know how the people in the park would have reacted. _

_But I am naturally curious and went to the park the next day again. I didn't see her at first, but then she appeared through the park gates. Before asking for her name (I am certain now, it was Lizzie - short for Elizabeth), I asked her how she could possibly know things about me I didn't know. She replied she'd do researches on that peculiar half-island (she called it moon-pool-peninsula) and knew what could happen, the reason she missed any kind of water at full moon nights. She wanted to stay normal, she said._

_She told me a lot more, so she apparently knew a lot about me. And then she told me, I should keep it a secret, because, if she was able to find out about the mysteries of that moon pool other people would have this idea, too. She only smiled after telling me this but I know what she didn't want to say. Yet, other people wouldn't be kind and protect me. That's why (and because of her knowledge) I asked her, to become a nanny for a few days for me, the time my parents mainly would be away. She could then earn a bit of that extra money she needed and help me to learn the most important things. Sadly, she only stayed exactly one week and went home without really saying goodbye. _

_But the situation has been weird anyway. We've been out in the park as the sky darkened suddenly. We'd watched weather forecast, but it had said nothing about rain. So, we'd been out without any protective rain coats or umbrellas and only on foot. I didn't notice anything at first, but she suddenly exclaimed (outraged somehow, as if she'd blame the weather forecast) that it would start raining. _

_And it rained. From one to the next second it started raining horribly. We had started running towards an old caravan, which stood at the end of the meadow as long as I can remember. As we reached it, she looked pale and somehow strained. She unbuttoned her jacket and handed it to me as a towel. She only wore a top now, it made her even paler. I was afraid she would faint, anyhow she ensured me it wasn't as bad as it looked. The rain had been unexpectedly cold and I was glad to get rid of the wet raindrops. Then I noticed I'd lost my bracelet and mentioned it without thinking about any consequences. Lizzie ran back and I crawled under the caravan to watch her. As she didn't find it, she glanced upwards the sky and held both hands next to her body, like rebuking the rain for all the misery. The next moment a lightning hit her. Or I thought it hit her, but it couldn't have hit her, because she stood again after sliding through the mud.  
_

_I don't know how we got home. Somehow we did. We didn't talk a lot. Lizzie's hand temperature changed between cold and warm every minute but I was too frightened to let go of her hand. Mum and Dad were angry, because I was so muddy and we have been out in a dangerous thunderstorm without any protection. Dad claimed, Lizzie had been irresponsible. He'd heard a growling thunder and thought it would explode right over them. She excused and said she'd have to go home by herself now, otherwise she'd miss the train. She didn't even try to explain what had happened and I wanted to say, she'd nearly been hit by the lightning whose thunder he'd heard but she shook her head. I believe she was sad. That was the last I saw of Lizzie. She turned around and disappeared into the rain.  
_

_Later the same evening, before going to bed I found the bracelet in the bathroom. I hadn't lost it, but only noticed I hadn't it after we'd hidden away behind that old car.  
_

_I promised her to burn the pages I wrote, write and will write about my secret. But only if she would remember me at a special time. She claimed no one voluntarily would be her flatmate. If she found someone to be her ideal flatmate and get me a notice about it, I'd burn everything I'd have written. Keep my secret for myself. I believe she won't remember me. More precisely, she maybe will remember me, but probably not the promise. It has been more a joke, anyway.  
_

_Sometimes I wish she would have been more like me. I mean, I haven't met anybody who's like me. It's crazy. I am lying to everybody, yet how should I break the truth without sounding completely insane? It would have been funnier if we both could have dived along the coast and if she wouldn't have only watched the whole time. But maybe we both would have had great problems that last evening in the park.  
_

_Excited to write more,  
_

_Bella  
_

Isabella Hartley carefully tore out the first three pages of her diary. It where the only pages she'd ever jotted something down. She folded them slowly, one after another and placed them in a glass bowl. This morning a postcard had arrived, after years, no sender, only receiver given and four single words written on it. Prospective _Flatmate Found. Thanks._

Her parents had asked her about the sender. If she knew who'd written it. If she knew what those words meant. Bella had only taken it and went into her room without explaining anything. She'd never expected to get a note from her former savior again. Yet, here it was and now she had a promise to keep.

* * *

**Hey everybody !**

**I am sorry if there are any mistakes as regards content (d********on't know anything about Bella, so I hope I didn't mess up**), grammar and spelling. (= M&I  



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